86 MODEL AVIATION September 2003 86
D.B. Mathews
F l y i n g f o r F u n
909 N. Maize Rd., Townhouse 734, Wichita KS 67212
DO YOU REALLY Believe That? In his
June 2003 “President’s Perspective” column,
AMA President Dave Brown expressed his
considerable concerns about the Internet’s
influence on the rapid distribution of negative
information concerning our sport. He wrote:
“Instant communication and the ability to
communicate with a wide audience are
wonderful capabilities when the information
is correct, but at an amazing speed, that
medium can also spread information that is
either completely wrong or sometimes
detrimental to the intended audience.”
He is warning about the dangers of, first,
believing what one reads on the Internet, and
second, repeating it. In the frame of reference
he was using, the real danger lies in repeating
something one reads on the Internet and
accepting it with confidence without checking
it out from a logic and corroboration
standpoint.
For many months I have been gathering
courage to address this same blind-trust
phenomenon as it applies to modeling chat
rooms and products. For reasons best
understood by a psychiatrist, a surprising
amount of negative “expert” information
seems to be posted on these Web sites that is,
at best, personal opinion and at worst, plain
libelous.
Have you noticed that in nearly every
instance these negative comments and reports
are unsigned or use some code name? I was
taught that when writing and expressing an
opinion, it is not news and requires a byline.
Few newspapers and magazines accept
Jerry O’Keefe built his Bandito Grande from Radio Control Modeler plans. See text for
discussion. A laser-cut kit of the model will be available soon.
Roger Cominskey, Randy Wrisley designed French Flying Flea.
It’s technically a canard, which is French word for “duck.”
This 1⁄2-scale Radio Control tank has internal-combustion power.
It was displayed at 2003 Toledo Weak Signals show.
unsigned letters, and they will occasionally
state that a name was withheld by request.
Product reviews in the modeling magazines
always have bylines. The reason is obvious if
you think about it; if people have the courage
of their convictions, they should also have the
courage to acknowledge their authorship.
Consider the damage that can be done to a
manufacturer by a person who, for whatever
reason, writes negative things about its
products, submits them to a chat room, and
gives no indication of his or her name or
address and no valid way to measure his or
her expertise. Furthermore, the manufacturer
has no way to rebut those comments or
correct any technical errors and
misunderstood directions since it has no idea
to whom to reply.
This entire process provides a beautiful
opportunity for some hate-filled person to
badly hurt someone, all in complete
anonymity. And consider what a devious way
this would be for business competitors to
damage each other.
88 MODEL AVIATION
There is an old saying—to consider the
source—that used to apply to the caution a
thinking person needed to use with any
information passed on by someone other
than the ones directly affected. There is
nothing gossips hate worse than someone
who checks out the accuracy of a story
before repeating it.
If information, comments, or
recommendations are posted on the Internet
unsigned, I’m inclined to ignore them.
Conversely, if someone has the courage to
put his or her name on an opinion, I tend to
pay attention. That obligation to be truthful
bears on all of us who write columns for
magazines. If they were printed without
bylines, it’s hard to tell what extravagant lies
we might tell.
I have no problem with the Internet and
the incredible new vistas it is opening in our
society. That aspect is positively influencing
our lives and will continue to do so. I
strenuously object to its misuse by people of
questionable mental health who are hoping to
carry out personal vendettas or inflate their
egos.
How Sweet It Is! I am writing this on a late-
April Saturday evening after spending the day
at an area float-fly. Sponsored by the Tri-City
Modelairs (one club for three neighboring
small towns), 22 registered pilots flew off of a
small lake southwest of Wellington, Kansas.
I’d suspect that similar events are taking place
this same weekend across the US.
Common to most of these events is a laidback
atmosphere of model-airplane nuts
enjoying themselves. These local gatherings
never receive national media coverage. If any
photos of them are printed, they will likely be
those tiny things in the district vice
presidents’ columns, and they are important
only to the locals.
Yet these smallish get-togethers are the
glue that holds our sport together. Combine
the nationwide entries at these local events,
and you will find that far more modelers are
flying at them than at any major event.
What exactly is the appeal? I have no
idea, but the combination of block party,
picnic, and family reunion certainly has much
attraction. Most important, these people enjoy
visiting with people they see everyday and
people they only see at these sorts of gettogethers;
they are flying for fun only. No
judgments are made, no measurements are
taken, no feelings are hurt or egos are
threatened. There is no anger and no
tension—just of fun.
Prizes are awarded by drawing pilot
numbers. What could be more fair than that?
Less-than-perfect landings are treated with
humor and a sense of “it could happen to me”
since no one at these sorts of events has any
need to feel superior. Those of you who don’t
get what I’m describing sure are missing out
on some good times.
Loose Ends: Several readers wrote to obtain
a source of full-size drawings for the Veco kit
line as illustrated in a recent column. For
some reason Veco included half-size
drawings in its kits, but Joe Wagner—the
original designer—has redrawn them full size
and sells prints. If you’re looking for plans for
John Michael Garner’s license plate. The author asks you to keep them coming.
Lowell Hamilton of Rapid City, South Dakota, and his J.C. Yates Sammy Mason Control
Line model in 1951. Had Orwick .64, was built from Air Trails plans.
a Sioux, Chief, etc., contact Joe Wagner at
212 S. Pine Ave., Ozark AL 36360.
Does anyone out there know of a way to
contact Bob File or his family? Bob designed
and had published several designs in the
1930s, and some of those designs have
become popular in England. I had a file (pun
intended), but I cannot find it. Can anyone
help?
Jerry O’Keefe sent in a photo of his
Bandito Grande and wrote:
“My version of the Grande is powered
with a Saito 150 which is more than enough
power. Thus far, I have only flown the aircraft
at approximately 1⁄3rd throttle for good
performance. I have followed your building
instructions completely with the exception
that I haven’t yet installed tail-bracing wires.
Do you feel this is absolutely necessary?”
My response in short form is “You better!”
The reason is simple and complex, but those
tail feathers are not solid sheet; they are built
up and therefore not very rigid. Consider the
large volume of wildly disturbed air that
passes over the tail surfaces of a propellerdriven
airplane. Have you ever noticed how
much your pant legs whip around when
you’re standing behind the model with the
engine running full blast?
Additionally, consider the incredibly rapid
changes in positive to negative and back to
positive G forces aerobatics exert on those
same surfaces and at the same time. Without
exception, full-scale aerobatic aircraft have
wire-braced empennages. I know of two
situations in which tail-brace failure led to
fatal crashes.
Jerry, unless you’d like to see how long it
will take for a section of empennage to reach
the ground after the bulk of your Bandito
Grande hits, put on the wires.
The last two columns discussed identification
between friend and foe. I received a neat tie-in
to that from Jim Neumann, who is an ex-
Royal Air Force (RAF) member and current
US citizen. One of his old flying buddies sent
him the following.
“Two members of the Lothian and Borders
traffic police were out on the Berwickshire
Moors with a radar gun recently, happily
engaged in apprehending speeding motorists,
when their equipment suddenly locked up
completely with the unexpected reading of
well over 300 mph.
“The mystery was explained seconds later
as a low flying Harrier hurtled over their
heads. The boys in blue, upset at the damage
to their radar gun, put in a complaint to the
RAF, but were somewhat chastened when the
RAF pointed out that the damage might have
been more severe.
“The Harrier’s target seeker had locked on
to the ‘enemy’ radar and triggered an
automatic retaliatory air-to-surface missile
attack. Luckily, the Harrier was operating unarmed.”
MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/09
Page Numbers: 86,88,90
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/09
Page Numbers: 86,88,90
86 MODEL AVIATION September 2003 86
D.B. Mathews
F l y i n g f o r F u n
909 N. Maize Rd., Townhouse 734, Wichita KS 67212
DO YOU REALLY Believe That? In his
June 2003 “President’s Perspective” column,
AMA President Dave Brown expressed his
considerable concerns about the Internet’s
influence on the rapid distribution of negative
information concerning our sport. He wrote:
“Instant communication and the ability to
communicate with a wide audience are
wonderful capabilities when the information
is correct, but at an amazing speed, that
medium can also spread information that is
either completely wrong or sometimes
detrimental to the intended audience.”
He is warning about the dangers of, first,
believing what one reads on the Internet, and
second, repeating it. In the frame of reference
he was using, the real danger lies in repeating
something one reads on the Internet and
accepting it with confidence without checking
it out from a logic and corroboration
standpoint.
For many months I have been gathering
courage to address this same blind-trust
phenomenon as it applies to modeling chat
rooms and products. For reasons best
understood by a psychiatrist, a surprising
amount of negative “expert” information
seems to be posted on these Web sites that is,
at best, personal opinion and at worst, plain
libelous.
Have you noticed that in nearly every
instance these negative comments and reports
are unsigned or use some code name? I was
taught that when writing and expressing an
opinion, it is not news and requires a byline.
Few newspapers and magazines accept
Jerry O’Keefe built his Bandito Grande from Radio Control Modeler plans. See text for
discussion. A laser-cut kit of the model will be available soon.
Roger Cominskey, Randy Wrisley designed French Flying Flea.
It’s technically a canard, which is French word for “duck.”
This 1⁄2-scale Radio Control tank has internal-combustion power.
It was displayed at 2003 Toledo Weak Signals show.
unsigned letters, and they will occasionally
state that a name was withheld by request.
Product reviews in the modeling magazines
always have bylines. The reason is obvious if
you think about it; if people have the courage
of their convictions, they should also have the
courage to acknowledge their authorship.
Consider the damage that can be done to a
manufacturer by a person who, for whatever
reason, writes negative things about its
products, submits them to a chat room, and
gives no indication of his or her name or
address and no valid way to measure his or
her expertise. Furthermore, the manufacturer
has no way to rebut those comments or
correct any technical errors and
misunderstood directions since it has no idea
to whom to reply.
This entire process provides a beautiful
opportunity for some hate-filled person to
badly hurt someone, all in complete
anonymity. And consider what a devious way
this would be for business competitors to
damage each other.
88 MODEL AVIATION
There is an old saying—to consider the
source—that used to apply to the caution a
thinking person needed to use with any
information passed on by someone other
than the ones directly affected. There is
nothing gossips hate worse than someone
who checks out the accuracy of a story
before repeating it.
If information, comments, or
recommendations are posted on the Internet
unsigned, I’m inclined to ignore them.
Conversely, if someone has the courage to
put his or her name on an opinion, I tend to
pay attention. That obligation to be truthful
bears on all of us who write columns for
magazines. If they were printed without
bylines, it’s hard to tell what extravagant lies
we might tell.
I have no problem with the Internet and
the incredible new vistas it is opening in our
society. That aspect is positively influencing
our lives and will continue to do so. I
strenuously object to its misuse by people of
questionable mental health who are hoping to
carry out personal vendettas or inflate their
egos.
How Sweet It Is! I am writing this on a late-
April Saturday evening after spending the day
at an area float-fly. Sponsored by the Tri-City
Modelairs (one club for three neighboring
small towns), 22 registered pilots flew off of a
small lake southwest of Wellington, Kansas.
I’d suspect that similar events are taking place
this same weekend across the US.
Common to most of these events is a laidback
atmosphere of model-airplane nuts
enjoying themselves. These local gatherings
never receive national media coverage. If any
photos of them are printed, they will likely be
those tiny things in the district vice
presidents’ columns, and they are important
only to the locals.
Yet these smallish get-togethers are the
glue that holds our sport together. Combine
the nationwide entries at these local events,
and you will find that far more modelers are
flying at them than at any major event.
What exactly is the appeal? I have no
idea, but the combination of block party,
picnic, and family reunion certainly has much
attraction. Most important, these people enjoy
visiting with people they see everyday and
people they only see at these sorts of gettogethers;
they are flying for fun only. No
judgments are made, no measurements are
taken, no feelings are hurt or egos are
threatened. There is no anger and no
tension—just of fun.
Prizes are awarded by drawing pilot
numbers. What could be more fair than that?
Less-than-perfect landings are treated with
humor and a sense of “it could happen to me”
since no one at these sorts of events has any
need to feel superior. Those of you who don’t
get what I’m describing sure are missing out
on some good times.
Loose Ends: Several readers wrote to obtain
a source of full-size drawings for the Veco kit
line as illustrated in a recent column. For
some reason Veco included half-size
drawings in its kits, but Joe Wagner—the
original designer—has redrawn them full size
and sells prints. If you’re looking for plans for
John Michael Garner’s license plate. The author asks you to keep them coming.
Lowell Hamilton of Rapid City, South Dakota, and his J.C. Yates Sammy Mason Control
Line model in 1951. Had Orwick .64, was built from Air Trails plans.
a Sioux, Chief, etc., contact Joe Wagner at
212 S. Pine Ave., Ozark AL 36360.
Does anyone out there know of a way to
contact Bob File or his family? Bob designed
and had published several designs in the
1930s, and some of those designs have
become popular in England. I had a file (pun
intended), but I cannot find it. Can anyone
help?
Jerry O’Keefe sent in a photo of his
Bandito Grande and wrote:
“My version of the Grande is powered
with a Saito 150 which is more than enough
power. Thus far, I have only flown the aircraft
at approximately 1⁄3rd throttle for good
performance. I have followed your building
instructions completely with the exception
that I haven’t yet installed tail-bracing wires.
Do you feel this is absolutely necessary?”
My response in short form is “You better!”
The reason is simple and complex, but those
tail feathers are not solid sheet; they are built
up and therefore not very rigid. Consider the
large volume of wildly disturbed air that
passes over the tail surfaces of a propellerdriven
airplane. Have you ever noticed how
much your pant legs whip around when
you’re standing behind the model with the
engine running full blast?
Additionally, consider the incredibly rapid
changes in positive to negative and back to
positive G forces aerobatics exert on those
same surfaces and at the same time. Without
exception, full-scale aerobatic aircraft have
wire-braced empennages. I know of two
situations in which tail-brace failure led to
fatal crashes.
Jerry, unless you’d like to see how long it
will take for a section of empennage to reach
the ground after the bulk of your Bandito
Grande hits, put on the wires.
The last two columns discussed identification
between friend and foe. I received a neat tie-in
to that from Jim Neumann, who is an ex-
Royal Air Force (RAF) member and current
US citizen. One of his old flying buddies sent
him the following.
“Two members of the Lothian and Borders
traffic police were out on the Berwickshire
Moors with a radar gun recently, happily
engaged in apprehending speeding motorists,
when their equipment suddenly locked up
completely with the unexpected reading of
well over 300 mph.
“The mystery was explained seconds later
as a low flying Harrier hurtled over their
heads. The boys in blue, upset at the damage
to their radar gun, put in a complaint to the
RAF, but were somewhat chastened when the
RAF pointed out that the damage might have
been more severe.
“The Harrier’s target seeker had locked on
to the ‘enemy’ radar and triggered an
automatic retaliatory air-to-surface missile
attack. Luckily, the Harrier was operating unarmed.”
MA
Edition: Model Aviation - 2003/09
Page Numbers: 86,88,90
86 MODEL AVIATION September 2003 86
D.B. Mathews
F l y i n g f o r F u n
909 N. Maize Rd., Townhouse 734, Wichita KS 67212
DO YOU REALLY Believe That? In his
June 2003 “President’s Perspective” column,
AMA President Dave Brown expressed his
considerable concerns about the Internet’s
influence on the rapid distribution of negative
information concerning our sport. He wrote:
“Instant communication and the ability to
communicate with a wide audience are
wonderful capabilities when the information
is correct, but at an amazing speed, that
medium can also spread information that is
either completely wrong or sometimes
detrimental to the intended audience.”
He is warning about the dangers of, first,
believing what one reads on the Internet, and
second, repeating it. In the frame of reference
he was using, the real danger lies in repeating
something one reads on the Internet and
accepting it with confidence without checking
it out from a logic and corroboration
standpoint.
For many months I have been gathering
courage to address this same blind-trust
phenomenon as it applies to modeling chat
rooms and products. For reasons best
understood by a psychiatrist, a surprising
amount of negative “expert” information
seems to be posted on these Web sites that is,
at best, personal opinion and at worst, plain
libelous.
Have you noticed that in nearly every
instance these negative comments and reports
are unsigned or use some code name? I was
taught that when writing and expressing an
opinion, it is not news and requires a byline.
Few newspapers and magazines accept
Jerry O’Keefe built his Bandito Grande from Radio Control Modeler plans. See text for
discussion. A laser-cut kit of the model will be available soon.
Roger Cominskey, Randy Wrisley designed French Flying Flea.
It’s technically a canard, which is French word for “duck.”
This 1⁄2-scale Radio Control tank has internal-combustion power.
It was displayed at 2003 Toledo Weak Signals show.
unsigned letters, and they will occasionally
state that a name was withheld by request.
Product reviews in the modeling magazines
always have bylines. The reason is obvious if
you think about it; if people have the courage
of their convictions, they should also have the
courage to acknowledge their authorship.
Consider the damage that can be done to a
manufacturer by a person who, for whatever
reason, writes negative things about its
products, submits them to a chat room, and
gives no indication of his or her name or
address and no valid way to measure his or
her expertise. Furthermore, the manufacturer
has no way to rebut those comments or
correct any technical errors and
misunderstood directions since it has no idea
to whom to reply.
This entire process provides a beautiful
opportunity for some hate-filled person to
badly hurt someone, all in complete
anonymity. And consider what a devious way
this would be for business competitors to
damage each other.
88 MODEL AVIATION
There is an old saying—to consider the
source—that used to apply to the caution a
thinking person needed to use with any
information passed on by someone other
than the ones directly affected. There is
nothing gossips hate worse than someone
who checks out the accuracy of a story
before repeating it.
If information, comments, or
recommendations are posted on the Internet
unsigned, I’m inclined to ignore them.
Conversely, if someone has the courage to
put his or her name on an opinion, I tend to
pay attention. That obligation to be truthful
bears on all of us who write columns for
magazines. If they were printed without
bylines, it’s hard to tell what extravagant lies
we might tell.
I have no problem with the Internet and
the incredible new vistas it is opening in our
society. That aspect is positively influencing
our lives and will continue to do so. I
strenuously object to its misuse by people of
questionable mental health who are hoping to
carry out personal vendettas or inflate their
egos.
How Sweet It Is! I am writing this on a late-
April Saturday evening after spending the day
at an area float-fly. Sponsored by the Tri-City
Modelairs (one club for three neighboring
small towns), 22 registered pilots flew off of a
small lake southwest of Wellington, Kansas.
I’d suspect that similar events are taking place
this same weekend across the US.
Common to most of these events is a laidback
atmosphere of model-airplane nuts
enjoying themselves. These local gatherings
never receive national media coverage. If any
photos of them are printed, they will likely be
those tiny things in the district vice
presidents’ columns, and they are important
only to the locals.
Yet these smallish get-togethers are the
glue that holds our sport together. Combine
the nationwide entries at these local events,
and you will find that far more modelers are
flying at them than at any major event.
What exactly is the appeal? I have no
idea, but the combination of block party,
picnic, and family reunion certainly has much
attraction. Most important, these people enjoy
visiting with people they see everyday and
people they only see at these sorts of gettogethers;
they are flying for fun only. No
judgments are made, no measurements are
taken, no feelings are hurt or egos are
threatened. There is no anger and no
tension—just of fun.
Prizes are awarded by drawing pilot
numbers. What could be more fair than that?
Less-than-perfect landings are treated with
humor and a sense of “it could happen to me”
since no one at these sorts of events has any
need to feel superior. Those of you who don’t
get what I’m describing sure are missing out
on some good times.
Loose Ends: Several readers wrote to obtain
a source of full-size drawings for the Veco kit
line as illustrated in a recent column. For
some reason Veco included half-size
drawings in its kits, but Joe Wagner—the
original designer—has redrawn them full size
and sells prints. If you’re looking for plans for
John Michael Garner’s license plate. The author asks you to keep them coming.
Lowell Hamilton of Rapid City, South Dakota, and his J.C. Yates Sammy Mason Control
Line model in 1951. Had Orwick .64, was built from Air Trails plans.
a Sioux, Chief, etc., contact Joe Wagner at
212 S. Pine Ave., Ozark AL 36360.
Does anyone out there know of a way to
contact Bob File or his family? Bob designed
and had published several designs in the
1930s, and some of those designs have
become popular in England. I had a file (pun
intended), but I cannot find it. Can anyone
help?
Jerry O’Keefe sent in a photo of his
Bandito Grande and wrote:
“My version of the Grande is powered
with a Saito 150 which is more than enough
power. Thus far, I have only flown the aircraft
at approximately 1⁄3rd throttle for good
performance. I have followed your building
instructions completely with the exception
that I haven’t yet installed tail-bracing wires.
Do you feel this is absolutely necessary?”
My response in short form is “You better!”
The reason is simple and complex, but those
tail feathers are not solid sheet; they are built
up and therefore not very rigid. Consider the
large volume of wildly disturbed air that
passes over the tail surfaces of a propellerdriven
airplane. Have you ever noticed how
much your pant legs whip around when
you’re standing behind the model with the
engine running full blast?
Additionally, consider the incredibly rapid
changes in positive to negative and back to
positive G forces aerobatics exert on those
same surfaces and at the same time. Without
exception, full-scale aerobatic aircraft have
wire-braced empennages. I know of two
situations in which tail-brace failure led to
fatal crashes.
Jerry, unless you’d like to see how long it
will take for a section of empennage to reach
the ground after the bulk of your Bandito
Grande hits, put on the wires.
The last two columns discussed identification
between friend and foe. I received a neat tie-in
to that from Jim Neumann, who is an ex-
Royal Air Force (RAF) member and current
US citizen. One of his old flying buddies sent
him the following.
“Two members of the Lothian and Borders
traffic police were out on the Berwickshire
Moors with a radar gun recently, happily
engaged in apprehending speeding motorists,
when their equipment suddenly locked up
completely with the unexpected reading of
well over 300 mph.
“The mystery was explained seconds later
as a low flying Harrier hurtled over their
heads. The boys in blue, upset at the damage
to their radar gun, put in a complaint to the
RAF, but were somewhat chastened when the
RAF pointed out that the damage might have
been more severe.
“The Harrier’s target seeker had locked on
to the ‘enemy’ radar and triggered an
automatic retaliatory air-to-surface missile
attack. Luckily, the Harrier was operating unarmed.”
MA
